Program to ponder the mystery of Masa

George Masa was one of the greatest landscape photographers of Western North Carolina, but where he came from and what happened to the thousands of photographs he took remains a mystery even today.

Known as the Ansel Adams of the Smokies, Masa’s stunning images helped inspire the creation of the national park and introduced the beauty of the mountains to the world in the 1920s and ‘30s.

A program featuring one of the largest collections of Masa’s remaining masterworks will be held at 6 p.m. July 28 at the Village Commons in Cashiers as part of the Village Nature Series. Ran Shaffner, archivist for the Highlands Historical Society, will discuss Masa’s life and his photographs on display at the Society’s Museum. Masa did extensive photography on the Highlands-Cashiers plateau in addition to his more well-known work in the Smokies.

Sponsored by the Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust and the Village Green. www.hicashlt.org or call 526.1111.